


The Truth Will Set You Free?

by Gemology



Series: It's just magic, okay? [3]
Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Best Friends, Canon Divergence, Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Ducks, Episode: s01e23 The Shadow War!, F/F, Family, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Issues, Family Secrets, Female Friendship, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Magic, Magic-Users, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mirror Universe, Mirrors, Mirrors Magic, Reunion, Reunions, Shadow Realm, Shadows - Freeform, Spells & Enchantments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-30 14:41:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15753783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemology/pseuds/Gemology
Summary: You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family. Unless you don't have one.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> All of the stories in this series connect, but I am also trying to write them as stand-alone one-shots. So, if anything seems a little repetitive, I'm just catching up a new reader. Or maybe an old reader, if you take a long break between stories. Also, this is the first part that will steer away from canon in a more direct way.

Huey, Dewey, and Louie all stood in Webby's room, analyzing the shadow before them. It should have been a plain silhouette, correlating to Webby's form, but instead it had glowing eyes and some extra feather tufts on top in the place where her bow should be.

"So Lena is a shadow?" Louie observed.

"She was always a shadow." Huey pointed out.

"Right, but now she's Webby's shadow?" Dewey confirmed.

"And also her reflection." Huey glanced back at the large mirror in the room, which Lena did not currently inhabit.

"So like a ghost?" Louie asked.

"Kind of?" Dewey shrugged.

"When were you going to tell us?" Huey turned to Webby.

"Eventually?" Webby grinned sheepishly. "She's not exactly going anywhere."

"Don't remind me," Lena finally piped up.

"Sorry," Webby apologized. "What did you guys need?"

Ever the logical one, Huey answered, "We've barely seen you for the last month. We got worried."

"Yeah," Dewey agreed, "We know you were beaten up about losing Lena and thought you were taking some time to process everything."

Louie jumped in. "I guess you two were hanging out instead. That's actually a relief."

Webby nodded enthusiastically. "Right now I'm working on a De Spell family tree. We don't know if Magica has any other living relatives, but if she does we're hoping one of them might know how to free Lena from the shadow realm."

"So like that McDuck project you've been working on for the last several years?" Louie pointed to the giant corkboard full of pictures and notes.

"Exactly!" Webby exclaimed.

"Well, we're glad you're okay," Huey moved in for a hug and the other brothers followed suit. "Let us know if there's anything we can do to help. We care about Lena too."

"Thanks, guys," she smiled.

"We'll let you get back to the research," Dewey said as the three headed out. "Good luck!"

Once they were gone, Webby moved over to the mirror that she'd carefully placed near her bed so that she could see Lena again. For some reason, Lena could only exist in mirrors if Webby was reflected in them, but in place of her reflection. The two brushed it off as some magic thing and were learning how to best use the new ability.

"So, find anything yet?" Lena prompted. She could only watch as Webby studied several books strewn on the floor around her, but none were close enough to read and even if she could, she wouldn't be able to turn the pages.

"Well, turns out witches and warlocks tend to live in secrecy and don't keep very close ties to their family. Sometimes the history of a family member doesn't exist for a several years, as if they disappeared. There's not usually an explanation. Could be any number of things: entrapments, curses, going into hiding, imprisonment similar to how Magica was trapped in Scrooge's dime for 15 years, that sort of thing. They don't keep a lot of records, probably because it makes them easier to track," Webby speculated as she flipped through the book she was currently holding.

"So not much then?" Lena sighed. "Listen, Webby, maybe we should try something el-"

"I found something!" Webby's finger scanned the page as she read along. Her excited expression slowly faded as she read on, until finally she looked up at a confused Lena. She quickly looked away, eyes scanning the writing again, before she swallowed and turned back to her friend.

"Webby?" Lena prodded, voice laden with concern. It was times like these she wished she could just reach out and hold her friend.

"Lena was real. Lena existed. Magica had a niece," Webby started to explain.

"Webby, what are you talking about? I'M Lena. Magica made me up," Lena sounded confused.

"No, she didn't. Not every part of you. The real-" Webby stopped and reconsidered. "The  _first_  Lena died when she was your age. But you're not her. I don't know what prompted Magica to recreate you- her- as a physical form again. Maybe some part of you comes from the memories she had of her real niece."

Lena stared down at the book, but she couldn't make anything out. When she looked up, she was furious. "I'm not even my own person?! Just some lousy copy?! I don't even have any of the previous Lena's memories. Why would Magica do this? She never even told me," Lena paced back and forth as much as she was able.

"You may have her name, but you are your own person." Webby tried to be encouraging. "You got to live your own life and make your own memories for 15 years."

Lena stopped and whirled on Webby. "No, I didn't! I was a puppet for most of it, and a pawn for the rest. The times I spent with you,  _that_  was my life, and just barely. Magica was always breathing down my neck, watching my every move. I never got to relax. I never got to live! And now I'm still trapped as a shadow. I'm still not free! I hate this! I wish Magica had destroyed me for good," she turned her back to Webby.

"You-you don't mean that! Come on, Lena. I'm going to get you out, I promi-"

"WHEN?!" Lena yelled, throwing her hands up in the air, but still refusing to look in the direction of her friend, "When, Webby? I'm tired of being stuck like this! I'm tired of being in here! I'm just… tired," Lena suddenly dropped to her hands and knees. She was breathing heavily, and didn't notice her form slowly starting to fade, becoming more and more transparent.

"Lena!" Webby cried out. "What's happening to you?"

"Wh-" Lena lifted her hands and realized she could see through them, then she checked her body and found the same. "Webby!" she pivoted back around towards her friend, but there was nothing either of them could do.


	2. Chapter 2

"What happened?" Lena groaned from the floor where her silhouette laid.

"Lena! You're back! You faded from the mirror and you weren't in my shadows and I couldn't find you," Webby was sitting on her knees, tear stains evident on her face.

"How long was I gone?" Lena asked.

"A few hours. I got so scared," Webby sniffled.

Something dawned on Lena as she tried to make sense of what had just occurred. "I think the magic tying me to you is… fading."

"What? But it can't!" Webby put her hands on top of the shadow, as if she might be able to hold her there if she tried hard enough.

"Maybe the magic that I absorbed while I was attached to Magica was holding us together. I thought it was a possibility, but I didn't want to worry you if I was wrong. Now that I don't have her amulet, I don't have any powers. She was always with me. She made me. I'm not supposed to exist without her. Maybe I  _can't_ ," the teen sounded defeated.

"Yes, you can!" Webby balled her hands into fists. "I'll make sure of it!" she scrubbed her eyes and then sprinted to her toy chest. When she returned, she was holding The Grimoire du Merlock. She flipped it open in front of the mirror and scoured its pages.

Lena appeared in the mirror, frantically trying to stop her friend. "Webby, you don't know how to use that!"

"We used it in the Money Bin! We can use it again," she was focused, determined not to let Lena fade away forever.

"We used a spell that you made up," Lena tried to use reason to dissuade Webby. "And I destroyed the money shark with Magica's magic."

Webby would not be dissuaded. "I still have to try."

"You don't know what will happen!"

"Don't you see? I don't care what happens!" Webby looked up from the book, fresh tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. "I was so afraid I'd lost you again. I can't keep hoping we'll figure something out. I have to do something. I'm not ready for you to go," she continued looking through the spellbook.

"Webby-" Lena tried to get a good look at the book. "You can't use dark magic!" she exclaimed, catching a glimpse of the spell her friend was reading.

"I will if I have too!"

"Webby, don't! I'm not worth it!"

"You're worth it to me."

"This isn't a game, Webby! Magic is dangerous!"

"You're right, Lena," Webby finally stopped as she found the right page. "This isn't a game. And I'm done playing around."


End file.
